1. The Field of the Invention
This invention broadly relates to a method of transplanting plants. In some of its more specific aspects, the invention is concerned with a method whereby plants may be transplanted to assure a higher survival rate initially, and to thereafter achieve more vigorous growth and increased resistance to disease and/or adverse environmental conditions.
2. The Prior Art
Transplanting is an important method of propagating many species of plants. Examples of plants which may be propagated by transplanting include garden plants such as tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, broccoli and egg plant, vines such as ivy, honeysuckle and periwinkle, flowers such as marigolds, zinnias and pansies, and shrubbery and trees such as juniper, cedar, holly, pine, poplar and maple.
In practicing the basic prior art method, usually seedlings or young plants are planted in soil at the proper depth and spacing for the species being transplanted. The plants are often watered with plain water at the time of transplanting, but natural rain fall may be relied upon to provide sufficient moisture in some instances and especially when the soil is wet at the time of transplanting. Even under optimum conditions, the plants are subjected to marked stress and/or shock over the period immediately following transplanting and until sufficient new feeder roots form to support life. The survival rate is often low and especially when there is insufficient moisture such as during a drought. The surviving plants also tend to grow slowly, if at all, during the period immediately following transplanting.
A number of attempts have been made heretofore to overcome the above mentioned limitations and disadvantages of propagating plants by transplanting. One prior art proposal involves frequent watering with plain water over the critical period following transplanting and until the plants are well established. This method is expensive and time consuming, and it requires a large volume of water which is not always available during dry weather or in arid areas. Still another proposal involves the use of rooting hormones which tend to promote the growth of feeder roots following transplanting. Rooting hormones aid in establishing the plants in a shorter period of time, but it is still advisable to water the transplanted plants frequently. While these and other prior art proposals are useful in transplanting a number of plant species, they are not entirely satisfactory in all instances and especially when the plants are normally hard to transplant and establish even under optimum conditions. The prior art proposals also do not have a beneficial effect on the transplanted plants throughout their lifespan. Thus, established plants transplanted by the prior art methods do not grow more vigorously or yield more, nor do they have more resistance to disease or adverse environmental conditions. Any beneficial effect gained by transplanting plants by the improved prior art methods are limited, as a general rule, to the period shortly following transplanting as distinguished from long term benefits.
It will be apparent from the foregoing that the art has long sought an entirely satisfactory method of propagating plants by transplanting which not only assures faster recovery from the stress and/or shock of transplanting, earlier establishment and a higher survival rate, but which also simultaneously provides plants characterized by increased vigor and resistance to disease and adverse environmental conditions over their lifespan. However, such a method was not available prior to the present invention.